180 THE BADGER. 



gaining earth ; and this, be it noted, within a yard 

 of the burrow-mouth, when the animal would 

 undoubtedly put forth all its energies to gain 

 the goal so near at hand. 



On the other hand, an experiment was carried 

 out in order to settle a wager between a Welsh 

 landowner and the owner of a set of terriers 

 reputed to possess exceptional mettle. The land- 

 owner was convinced that four of the terriers could 

 not hold a badger out of cover, and the proud 

 owner of the dogs was equally convinced that they 

 would not only hold him, but would make very 

 short work of his execution. 



Accordingly the unhappy badger was taken into 

 the centre of a field and dumped, blinking, out of 

 a bag. Gaining his bearings, he began to amble 

 off for the nearest cover ; whereupon the terriers 

 were released. They immediately closed, but the 

 running fight continued steadily in the direction 

 of the patch of cover. At times all four terriers 

 gained a hold of the unfortunate beast, yet doggedly 

 and persistently the badger bore on his way, and 

 in a very short space of time disappeared under- 

 ground at the very feet of the surprised dog-owner, 

 who, resultantly, lost his bet ! 



Of course, there are exceptional badgers, just as 

 there are exceptional terriers, but I doubt very 

 much whether any terrier could hold its own in 

 single combat, either closed or open, with an old 

 fighting male badger or with a sow defending her 

 young assuming that the badger had not previ- 

 ously been scared out of its wits. Though retiring 

 and peace-loving by disposition, this animal is a fierce 

 and terrible fighter when roused, and long perse- 

 cution has taught the badger to use its fangs and 

 claws with deadly effect. Even when terrified by 



